Amrish Puri (22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005) was an Indian actor, who was one of the most notable and important figures in Cinema of India, Indian cinema and Theatre of India, Theatre. He acted in more than 450 films, established himself as one of the most popular actors in Indian Cinema. Puri is remembered for playing various roles in variety of film genres, specially iconic villainous roles in Bollywood, Hindi Cinema, as well as World cinema, International Cinema. He reigned supreme in villainous roles in the 1980s and 1990s, his dominating screen presence and distinctive deep voice made him stand out amongst the other villains of the day. Puri was active in both, art cinema such as in some of Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani's films and mainly in mainstream cinema. Puri won three Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor, Filmfare Awards for Best Supporting Actor in eight nominations. He also holds most Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role, Filmfare Award for Best Villain nominations. While he predominantly worked in Hindi-language films, he had also appeared in Punjabi language, Punjabi, Telugu language, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil language, Tamil, Malayalam and Marathi language, Marathi language films. Puri played some of most remembered villainous roles in ''Vidhaata'' (1982), ''Shakti (1982 film), Shakti'' (1982) ''Hero (1983 film), Hero'' (1983), ''Meri Jung'' (1985), ''Nagina (1986 film), Nagina'' (1986), ''Mr. India (1987 film), Mr. India'' (1987), ''Shahenshah (1988 film), Shahenshah'' (1988), ''Ram Lakhan'' (1989), ''Tridev'' (1990), ''Ghayal (1990 film), Ghayal'' (1990), ''Saudagar (1991 film), Saudagar'' (1991)'', Thalapathi'' (1991), ''Tahalka'' (1992), ''Damini (1993)'', ''Karan Arjun'' (1995), ''Jeet (1996 film), Jeet'' (1996), Koyla (1997), ''Baadshah (1999 film), Baadshah'' (1998), ''Gadar: Ek Prem Katha'' (2001) and ''Nayak: The Real Hero'' (2001). Main antagonist '' Mogambo '' from Shekhar Kapur's Mr. India (1987 film), Mr. India (1987) played by Puri, ''is considered as one of greatest villains of all time in Indian Cinema'',it was reported that he received a salary of ₹10 million (US$771,890.82), making him the ''highest-paid Indian villain'' actor of all time. His comic role in Chachi 420, that he acted alongside Kamal Haasan was highly appreciated. Puri was highly prolific actor, he also featured in positive supporting roles, of which he won 3 times Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor, Filmfare Awards for Best Supporting Actor. Some of his notable positive roles are ''Phool Aur Kaante'' (1991), ''Gardish'' (1993), ''Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge'' (1995), ''Ghatak: Lethal, Ghatak'' (1996), ''Diljale'' (1996) ''Pardes (1997 film), Pardes'' (1997), ''Virasat (1997 film), Virasat'' (1997), ''China Gate (1998 film), China Gate'' (1998), ''Badal'' (2000), ''Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai'' (2001), ''Mujhse Shaadi Karogi'' (2004) and ''Hulchul (2004 film), Hulchul'' (2004). To Western audiences, he is best known as ''Mola Ram (Indiana Jones character), Mola Ram'' in Steven Spielberg's Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'' (1984) and as ''Khan'' in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi (film), Gandhi (1982). His grandson, Vardhan Puri is also an actor in Indian Cinema, having written and starred in a film produced by a production house named after Puri, Amrish Puri Films.

Early life

Amrish Lal Puri was born in a Punjabi Hindu family in Nawanshahr, Punjab Province (British India), Punjab, to Lala Nihal Chand and Ved Kaur. He had four siblings, elder brothers Chaman Puri and Madan Puri (both of whom were also actors), elder sister Chandrakanta, and a younger brother, Harish Puri. He was the first cousin of the actor and singer K. L. Saigal.

Career

Puri acted in more than 450 films between 1967 and 2005, and was one of the most successful villains in Bollywood. Most of them were hits. Puri first came to Bombay in the early 1950s following the footsteps of his elder brothers – Madan Puri and Chaman Puri, who were already established actors known for playing villainous roles. He failed his first screen test, and instead found a job with the Employees' State Insurance Corporation Ministry of Labour and Employment (India), Ministry of Labour and Employment (ESIC). At the same time, he started performing at the Prithvi Theatre in plays written by Satyadev Dubey. He eventually became well known as a stage actor and won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1979. This theatre recognition soon led to work in television ads and eventually to films at the relatively late age of 40. Puri went on to work in Bollywood, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi language, Marathi, Hollywood, Punjabi language, Punjabi, Malayalam, Telugu language, Telugu and Tamil films. Though he was successful in many regional films, he is best known for his work in Bollywood cinema. Through the 1970s, Puri often worked in supporting roles, usually as the henchman of the main villain. He was noticed in the 1980 super-hit movie ''Hum Paanch (film), Hum Paanch'' in which he played the main villain. After that, he started getting cast as the main villain in other movies. In 1982, Puri played the main villain, Jagavar Choudhary in the Subhash Ghai super-hit film ''Vidhaata''. That year, he again played the main villain, JK in the movie ''Shakti (1982 film), Shakti'' co-starring Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan. Next, in 1983, Ghai again cast him as the main villain, Pasha in the hit movie ''Hero (1983 film), Hero''. Puri regularly featured in subsequent Ghai films. Puri reigned supreme in villainous roles in the 1980s and 1990s. His dominating screen presence and baritone voice made him stand out amongst the other villains of the day. He is known to international audiences for his roles as Khan in Richard Attenborough's ''Gandhi (film), Gandhi'' (1982) and as the main antagonist Mola Ram (Indiana Jones character), Mola Ram in Steven Spielberg's ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'' (1984). He shaved his head for the role, and it created such an impression that he kept his head shaved. His bald look gave him the flexibility to experiment with different looks as a villain in subsequent movies. Puri and Spielberg shared a great rapport and Spielberg often said in interviews: "Amrish is my favorite villain. The best the world has ever produced and ever will!" In villainous roles, Puri is best remembered as "Mogambo" in ''Mr. India (1987 film), Mr. India'', "Jagavar" in ''Vidhaata'', "Thakral" in ''Meri Jung'', "Bhujang" in ''Tridev'', "Balwant Rai" in ''Ghayal (1990 film), Ghayal'', Barrister Chadda in ''Damini'' and "Thakur Durjan Singh" in ''Karan Arjun''. His comic role in ''Chachi 420'', that he acted alongside Kamal Haasan was highly appreciated. From the 1990s until his death in 2005, Puri also featured in positive supporting roles in many movies. Some of his notable positive roles are ''Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge'', ''Phool Aur Kaante'', ''Gardish'', ''Pardes (1997 film), Pardes'', ''Virasat (1997 film), Virasat'', ''Ghatak: Lethal, Ghatak'', ''Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai'', ''China Gate (1998 film), China Gate''. He received the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor award for ''Meri Jung'' and ''Virasat''.

Death

Puri was suffering from myelodysplastic syndrome, a rare kind of blood cancer, and had undergone brain surgery for his condition after he was admitted to the P.D. Hinduja National Hospital and Medical Research Centre, Hinduja Hospital on 27 December 2004. His condition required frequent removal of the blood accumulated in the cerebral region of the brain and after some time he slipped into a coma shortly before his death around 7:30 a.m on 12 January 2005. His body was brought to his residence for people to pay their last respects, and his funeral was on 13 January 2005 at Shivaji Park crematorium.

Legacy

On 22 June 2019, Puri was honoured with a Google Doodle. Commemorating his 87th birthday, Google carried his picture and the accompanying text read as, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again—and you might end up like Indian film actor Amrish Puri, who overcame an early setback on the way to fulfilling his big screen dreams."

Awards

Wins

* 1968: Maharashtra State Drama * 1979: Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Theatre * 1986: Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – ''Meri Jung'' * 1991: Maharashtra State Gaurav Pur ''Ghatak: Lethal, Ghatak'' * 1997: Star Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor, Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor – ''Ghatak: Lethal'' * 1997: Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – ''Ghatak: Lethal'' * 1998: Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – ''Virasat (1997 film), Virasat'' * 1998: Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor – ''Virasat''

Nominations

* 1990: Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role, Filmfare Award for Best Villain – ''Tridev'' * 1992: Filmfare Award for Best Villain – ''Saudagar (1991 film), Saudagar'' *1993: Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – ''Muskurahat (1992 film), Muskurahat'' * 1993: Filmfare Award for Best Villain – ''Tahalka'' *1994: Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – ''Gardish'' * 1994: Filmfare Award for Best Villain – ''Damini – Lightning, Damini'' *1996: Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – ''Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'' * 1996: Filmfare Award for Best Villain – ''Karan Arjun'' * 1999: Filmfare Award for Best Villain – ''Koyla'' * 2000: Filmfare Award for Best Villain – ''Baadshah (1999 film), Baadshah'' * 2002: Filmfare Award for Best Villain – ''Gadar: Ek Prem Katha'' * 2002: Zee Cine Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role – ''Gadar: Ek Prem Katha''

Filmography

Bibliography

References

External links

* *
Obituary from rediff

Obituary from Times of India
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puri, Amrish 1932 births 2005 deaths Punjabi Hindus 20th-century Indian male actors 21st-century Indian male actors Filmfare Awards winners Screen Awards winners Indian male film actors Indian male stage actors Male actors in Hindi cinema Male actors in Kannada cinema Male actors in Malayalam cinema Male actors in Marathi cinema Male actors in Punjabi cinema Male actors in Tamil cinema Male actors in Telugu cinema People from Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district Punjabi people Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award